The Beaver Valley Nitehawks suffered two tough losses this week after a promising KIJHL start to the season.
The Nitehawks came up just short of completing a comeback versus the Kimberley Dynamiters in a 3-2 loss Saturday in the Hawks Nest. The loss comes just two days after falling to the Castlegar Rebels 4-1 in Castlegar on Thursday.
Beaver Valley honoured Orange Shirt Day with a new Indigenous themed jersey and recognized the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation with a moment of silence prior to the match against Kimberley.
B.V. and Kimberley played end to end, but the bounces were not going the Nitehawks way as the Dynamiters jumped out to a 3-0 lead through two periods on goals from Jayden Kostiuk, Kasey Miller and Justin Sommer.
B.V. got on the board when Cooper Ross fed defenceman Gabriel Chanut at the point and he walked in and wired a shot over the glove of Kimberley goalie Trystan Self, 2:26 into the third period.
Nitehawks forward Ethan Smyth cut the lead to one midway through the period on a set up from Timothy Jozsa and Chanut, but that is as close as the home team would get.
Nathan Presley took the loss in the Nitehawks net making 40 saves on 43 shots, while B.V. fired 30 at the Kimberley net.
The Hawks went 2-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
In a physical game in Castelgar on Thursday, the two teams skated through two scoreless periods until the Rebels broke the goose egg 1:46 into the final frame. Rebels forward Jacob Moldenhauer scored his first of the season on a penalty shot, while shorthanded to give the home team a 1-0 lead.
The Rebels Brayden Vopat made it 2-0 just 93 seconds later, and Calvin Morrison notched his first of the campaign midway through the third with a power play goal for a 3-0 lead.
The Nitehawks Kaleb Brown spoiled the Rebels bid for a shutout with seven minutes remaining, but Castlegar forward Daytn Kulynych iced it for the 4-1 final with 2:48 to play.
Hawks goalie Zachary Mussio faced 34 shots, and Rebels netminder Ethan Lawzynski 31. Mussio earned the game star for B.V., while Vopat got the nod for Castlegar.
Beaver Valley is on the road for Thanksgiving Day weekend with a game in Kamloops Friday, 100-Mile House Saturday, and Chase on Sunday.